NOW that they know who their opposition will be at the FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP, Mamelodi Sundowns are chomping at the bit to pit themselves against some of the world’s best soccer clubs.
Captain Ronwen Williams, speaking from Morocco where the Brazilians will take on AS FAR Rabat in Matchday two of the CAF Champions League group stage, says his excitement at seeing the club’s name alongside the rest was a surreal feeling.
“I was just happy to see the name Mamelodi Sundowns up there with the best of the best. I got goosebumps just to see it there because this is a great achievement for the club,” he said of Sundowns’ participation at the 32-team global showpiece that will be played in the United States in the middle of next year.
A big achievement it certainly is, Sundowns guaranteed to earn a staggering minimum of a little over R900m ($50m) just for participation. They will, of course, bank much more should they make it into the knockout phase out of a Group F that includes Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, Fluminense of Brazil as well as South Korean club Ulsan HD.
“Being part of such a prestigious event, such a big tournament, it’s already enough. It is so big that any team that you are going to play against is going to be the best,” said Williams.
“It would have been nice if we could have got Manchester City because my son is a big supporter of them and I just love the football they play. It would have been nice, but I am very happy with the draw.”
Any group would have been tough, he says as he goes through each of the clubs they are pitted against:
“It’s nice that there are some teams that we are familiar with like Fluminense. We have similar traits in our build-ups and the way we play in terms of structure. We study a lot of their clips and we have studied play in the way they build up to see.
“I know someone in our camp that will be extremely happy that we are playing Dortmund – that is Tashreeq Matthews - because he played for them.
“And then Ulsan all the way from Korea, we know how tough it is going to be because they play very fast and quick football. But we are happy and excited and we can’t wait for the Club World Cup to start.”
The Club World Cup will be played in the United States between June 15 and July 13 next year.